Charles William Macdonald
was a seaman, labourer,
artist, and manufacturer.
Born in 1874 into a farming
family in Steam Mill, Nova
Scotia, his knack for drawing
would lead him to seaports,
galleries and museums around
the world. Realizing at an
early age that art would not

lead to a practical vocation
in the "Cornwallis Valley" he
travelled to New York and
signed on as ship's carpenter
in an effort to better his
skills through travel.
Influenced by the wondrous
places and things he saw, he
returned to explore Canada
from sea to sea before

settling down in Centreville
near where he was born. There
he built a business
fabricating pipe, brick and
culverts using concrete that
had impressed him in his
travels. The journeys also
introduced him to ways of
thinking, not common to the
valley. His socialist

disposition would shape the
way he ran his life and
"Kentville Concrete Products"
until the afternoon he
presented the company keys to
his foreman declaring "She's
yours!"
This exhibit allows a
look at Macdonald’s life and
talents through his drawings,